Advice about maintenance of "dual" batteries.

[Fred Nerk]

I have installed a Traxide SC80-12 smart charger/battery isolator close to my cranking battery. From there I ran a heavy twin cable to the rear of the car. I have an Andersen plug for the camper trailer, and I have since added a Merrit socket and a "cigar" socket in the cargo area for a fridge etc.

Recently I installed (another) Andersen plug in the car and connected a 75 amp hour Thumper battery pack that can be stored in the rear cargo area. This combination means the fridge works for a few days without needing to run the car engine. I have removed the battery to jump start a Patrol with a flat battery that was halfway winched up a steep cutting. (Hero for a few minutes). The Thumper has several outlets including a big Andersen outlet to connect jumper leads. I can also remove the Thumper to supplement the camper trailer battery etc. I am pleased with the flexibility of my system compared with a fixed dual battery installation.

And so to my question. Should I leave the Thumper in the car like a dual battery between trips? Will this have a good or negative effect on the life of my cranking battery, the Thumper and/or the alternator? Should I leave the Thumper at home and charge it as required?

Some details which may be relevant. The fridge is only in the car for trips. I have fitted fuses for all connections. The car is a My12 D4 HSE.

[THE BOOGER]

Cant see any problem leaving it in there other than its taking up space if that's not a problem with you then leave it, its ready to go and charged all the time will not effect your start battery:)

[Fred Nerk]

I stumbled across an answer to my question and so thought I would put it here to, just incase someone else finds it helpful.


WHAT IS THE LIFE EXPECTANCY OF MY THUMPER?

The AGM cells used in the Thumper range have a life expectancy between 5 - 9 years. The life of the Thumper range largely depends on the method in which the unit is charged. Over 10 years on the market has proved that the life expectancy of the units increase when the units are charged via the provided In car charging kit. When the unit is not in use (discharged regularly), the best method of maintaining the battery is leaving the unit connected to its In Car kit. This maintains the battery and aids in prolonging the life of the cells used in the battery pack.

[AGRO]

Hi Fred Nerk,

I too have a Traxide Dual Battery system.

My question is --

Does charging current come through the anderson plug that is shown on the Thumper website that connects the jumper leads or is there another input?

Thanks

[drivesafe]

Hi Fred and while slow charging of any lead acid battery is far better for the battery than fast charging, there is a point where reality needs to be taken into account.

With the slow charge rate of the Thumper set up, if your battery is in a low state, you will never drive long enough to charge the battery in a single drive, while using the thuper’s charger.

On the other hand, if you are not in a hurry to get the battery fully charged, then leaving the set in the rear while driving round town will be beneficial.

You just need to work out which is more important to your needs, short recharge times to allow for lots of use while off camping or long recharge times, with the set up only being used for a day or so at a time.

With the SC80 set up, you can keep recharging the battery while the motor is off but you are using auxiliary ( and cranking ) battery capacity to do this.

If you are planning to use your auxiliary/cranking battery capacity to power other accessories, then you need to consider disconnecting the thumper while on a camping trip, when the motor is off.

Alternatively, if you use the Anderson plug connection on the thumper as the power supply to the thumper, you will then have faster recharge times for the thumper and while using accessories, either connected to the thumper’s output or connected to other outputs in the vehicle, you will now have the combined battery capacity of all batteries in the system.

Which set up best suits your needs.

[Fred Nerk]

@AGRO:The Thumper can be charged via any of its sockets. Drivesafe has advised that (if I have read his post correctly) that charging is slow via the accessory sockets but faster via the Anderson connections. This is likely to be because of the higher amperage possible via the Anderson cconnection. You can charge via the 175 amp (jumper lead) Anderson socket and this is a good way to connect a 240 volt regulated charger as the little alligator clamps supplied with the charger usually fit into a 175 amp connector.

My configuration is: A Traxide SC80-12 installed near the cranking battery as per Drivesafe's instructions. From there to the rear of the car I ran a heavy cable to two 50 amp Anderson connections (An external one for the camper and an internal one for the Thumper). I also have added a Merritt/Hella socket for the fridge and a cigar socket. All these are protected by fuses near the connections. Thus my Thumper charges (and discharges) via its 50 amp connector.

The SC80 isolates the cranking battery should the voltage across the system fall so that the ability to start the car is preserved. It also allows the cranking battery to receive charge from the rear if the state of charge of the Thumper is higher than the cranking battery.

The flexibility of being able to easily remove the Thumper allows it to be left connected to the camper to augment the camper battery. The Thumper can be recharged via solar, generator or a 240 volt regulated charger (at a powered camp site or home). And you can start other stranded vehicles without risking your own car's electrics.

[drivesafe]

you can start other stranded vehicles without risking your own car's electrics.

Hi again Fred and there is no potential danger caused when jump starting from another vehicle or to another vehicle but there are plenty of myths and advertising hype relating to same.

Furthermore, you can safely and easily jump start one vehicle from another or from an emergency jump start pack using just the standard 50 amp Anderson plugs.

Just a suggestion but if you want to make your thumper more universal, you can change the 175 amp Anderson plugs for 50 amp Anderson plugs.

[Fred Nerk]

The Thumpers have both already. A 50 amp and a 175 amp Anderson connections plus the Merrit and cigar type sockets. As I mentioned earlier they are not cheap, but they seem well set up.

And thanks for the reasurance about jump starting. :)